Federal Wage and Hour Class Actions in Oregon and Washington

Federal wage and hour class action lawsuit must meet the requirements of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure section 23 which generally requires the employee(s) or Plaintiff(s) to show that:

1. the group or “class” of employees (wage claimants) that you seek to help is sufficiently numerous to justify a class action. This number is usually required to be more than 25. However, depending upon the specific facts, the number of class members could be more or less than 25. Some class actions are for thousands of employees; and

2. the group or “class” questions of fact or law are common. For instance where the employer programs a time clock to adjust the time worked in a way that consistently underpays the employees; and

3. the individuals who bring the wage claims or defenses on behalf of the group or “class” employees making wage claims must be typical of the wage claims or defenses against the wage claims of the class; and

4. the employees who bring the class action must show that they will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the wage and hour “class”. Courts generally look see if any conflicts exist between the representative of the wage and hour class and the wage and hour “class” members. The court also considers whether the wage and hour class representative has retained sufficiently experienced attorneys; and

5. the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to the wage and hour class members predominate over any questions affecting only individual wage claim class members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for fairly and efficiently adjudicating the controversy. In determining this, the courts look to such things as whether:

-wage claim class members have any interest in controlling their own cases;-the extent litigation concerning the wage claims have already begun;

-whether it is desirable to concentrate the litigation of the group of wage claims in federal court; and

-the ease or difficulty in managing the wage claims as a class action.

(Alternatives to number (5) above exist, but tend to be less commonly used in federal wage and hour class action litigation)

Wage Claim Attorneys
The lawyers at Schuck Law, LLC focus their law practice on wage claim and class action wage claim lawsuits. Our attorneys regularly prosecute Oregon wage claim lawsuits for employees and have significant experience in prosecuting wage and hour class action lawsuits. In addition to the claims for wages, civil penalty wages, penalty wages, and liquidated damages outlined in this website, an employee may also sue to recover their costs, disbursements, and attorney fees incurred in prosecution of the wage claim or class action wage claim lawsuit. This allows the attorneys at Schuck Law, LLC to take most wage claim lawsuits, and class action wage claim lawsuits, on a contingency fee basis.